


At the Beginning

by Katiebug445



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, I DIDN'T PUNISH MYSELF ENOUGH WITH ROYAI WEEK SO I'M BACK FOR MORE, LingFan - Freeform, LingFan Week 2017, fluff with a touch of angst, lingfanweek, spoilers for the end of FMAB
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 05:58:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11457408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebug445/pseuds/Katiebug445
Summary: “It’s your duty to protect the young lord.”That’s what she’d been told for as long as she could remember. Protect Ling Yao, never let him out of your sight, always be ready for a fight. Lucky for her, the young lord liked her grandfather, and wanted him around. Lucky for her, she took after him.





	At the Beginning

“It’s your duty to protect the young lord.” 

 

That’s what she’d been told for as long as she could remember. Protect Ling Yao, never let him out of your sight, always be ready for a fight. Lucky for her, the young lord liked her grandfather, and wanted him around. Lucky for her, she took after him. 

 

As they were growing up, their relationship developed so much deeper than bodyguard and body-that-needed-protecting, and before too long, a genuine friendship developed. Trips sneaking down to the kitchens to snatch something sweet were planned while she was supposed to be watching his back. He also insisted on sneaking out onto the grounds to climb trees in the spring and summer. 

 

What would a little fun now and then hurt, anyways? 

 

~ 

When the emperor fell ill, the ever tense race for the throne became as taut as a bowstring. Ling, at 13, knew his time was running out before he would inevitably kill or be killed while someone else tried to climb to the top. He  _ had _ to figure something out before it was too late. 

 

Lan Fan accompanied him on many trips for research, theorizing with him, helping him on his search for a solution. They spent many nights together, huddled around stacks upon stacks of books, notes, sketches, and candles, just reading and researching anything they could find. She was wicked smart, her brain clicking possibilities together faster than he could open a treatise. 

 

As they worked, they learned a bit more about each other, their histories, their goals, their views on the world and what they would change if they could… Ling loved listening to her speak. The rise and fall in her quiet voice, the passion in her voice as she brought a new idea to the table, her optimism that he would survive and end up being emperor… He loved all of it. His only wish was that she would look at him while she spoke, just so he could see that fire clearly in her eyes. 

 

He couldn’t have imagined anyone else that he would have wanted to go on this little journey with, and found himself immensely glad that fate had aligned in such a way that they were here together. 

 

~ 

“I’ve got it!” She exclaimed, dropping a dusty collection of notes down in front of him, grinning widely down at the young lord. “Alkahestry!” 

 

Ling looked up at her, an eyebrow raised, and then at the stack of notes in front of him. He’d heard of Alkahestry, of course, but it was never something deemed important enough by him to really look into. But he was running out of time, and had exhausted just about everything else available to him… 

 

Ling grabbed the first sheet of paper and read over the notes, and Lan Fan sat beside him, waiting to see what he had to say about it. 

 

He’d made it through a third of the stack before his stomach decided to cut in. Ling glanced up, a small smirk on his face, and nudged his friend in the leg. “What do you say we take a quick break from this, and grab some lunch?” He pushed himself to his feet and helped her up, noticing again that she wasn’t directly looking him in the eye, and the two made their way through the long hallways of the Yao Clan’s library. 

 

It took another two days before he found something that really sparked his interest. He called her over, and read over the passage he’d just read. There was something called a Philosopher’s Stone that could be created using the western counterpart to Alkahestry - known as Alchemy - that could grant the gift immortality to whoever had it. When he finished, he glanced up, and found that she was already staring at him. His eyes were wide, and hers were set as she thought over the possibilities of what this meant.

 

A beat or two passed in silence, both in too much disbelief that it could really be that easy, before anybody even dared to say anything. 

 

“We have to try.” He whispered, “it’s the only way I’ll be able to become emperor.” 

 

“I’ll talk to grandfather when we leave here. We can head out as soon as morning, my lord.” 

 

“We have to.” Ling said again, his tone firmer than before. His mind was whirling with scenarios of how he would go about obtaining one of these stones, of the dangers involved, and how much he owed the girl sitting across from her for bringing this whole thing to his attention. 

 

“Lan Fan, if I knew it wouldn’t get me beaten up by your grandfather, I would kiss you right now.” 

 

~ 

 

It took a bit longer than the following morning to prepare for a two month long trek across the desert, much to Ling’s dismay. He understood why everyone was being cautious - they couldn’t afford to run out of previsions halfway across, but they also couldn’t wait forever, either. Especially not with things as tense as they were between the clans. 

 

Three days later, they were on the way to Amestris. 

 

~

 

“Lan Fan?” Ling started, staring up at the stars overhead. They were stopped for the night huddled up close to a dead tree, a fire crackling between the three of them, and Fu’s snores breaking up a bit of the silence. “Do you ever think about what you’d do if you weren’t my bodyguard?” 

 

He heard the rustling of her armor against the ground as she moved, and he could just imagine the look on her face. “What do you mean, my lord?” 

 

“I mean, do you ever imagine what life would be like if you didn’t have to do this all the time?” 

 

“No.” 

 

“Oh…” 

 

“Do you?” 

 

Ling shifted, turning his eyes from the sky and back down to her, half a smile tugging at his lips. “If I wasn’t Ling Yao, twelfth son of the emperor, I would open my own restaurant, and it would be packed with people all the time. If I wouldn’t have to worry about my life being in danger every waking second, I would work on trying to unite the clans… And… I would marry you.” 

 

“My lord, I…” Lan Fan’s face went scarlet, but she kept her eyes on him, looking for any indication that he was joking. 

 

“What? I said if i wasn’t the son of the emperor. But I am, and it’s ‘forbidden’, or whatever. It’s a stupid rule anyways.” Ling straightened his legs out, leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree, and shut his eyes. When Lan Fan didn’t say anything else, he sighed, realizing that he should have just left it at uniting the clans. “Forget… Forget I said that last thing, okay?” 

 

“Okay.” 

 

~

 

The two didn’t speak much to each other for another couple days, Ling too embarrassed by admitting his feelings in his sleep-deprived state, and Lan Fan still in too much shock to formulate anything to say. Fu had picked up on something wrong between the two friends, but he didn’t say much about it. 

 

The silence continued. 

 

They reached the outskirts of what used to be Xerxes, and stopped for the night. When they surveyed the area, and saw it was deserted, they set up their camp. Ling couldn’t believe they’d made it across the desert in one piece. He also couldn’t believe Xerxes was so big. Looking around him, seeing the ruins of this once fantastic country, made him feel small in a way he wasn’t used to. 

 

He wasn’t the emperor’s twelfth son anymore. He wasn’t big, his name wasn’t known here. He was a small, insignificant human being who had been very wrong about the size of his world. Ling stood frozen in place for a moment, taking in everything he could about this beautiful, fallen world, when he saw something small move beside him. 

 

“It makes you think, doesn’t it?” 

 

“About what, my lord?” 

 

“About how small we really are. About how meaningless all the bloodshed really is in the grand scheme of things.” 

 

She hesitated for a moment, thinking about what he was saying, before giving a small nod of her head. “It does.” 

 

Ling turned his head, a frown grabbing at the corners of his mouth, and sighed. “I’m sorry, about before. I… I was tired, I didn’t mean to say that like that.” 

 

“All is forgiven!” she said quickly, thankful for her mask hiding her blush. “Don’t worry about it.” 

 

~ 

Lan Fan sat awake that night while the others slept, thinking about what Ling had said before. What would she do if she weren’t his bodyguard? She had no clue. She had been given this task since her birth, she was always told it was her destiny to keep him safe. But was it also her destiny that she fall in love with him, too? 

 

Since the beginning, she had always been drawn to the boy with the beautiful yellow robes. She was curious about him, why she was supposed to protect him with all her might. What was so special about a boy her same age? 

 

As they grew up together, became friends, she began to understand. Though, not in the same way that she assumed she was supposed to. Ling was  _ very _ special. She watched him with his people; he was always kindhearted. Never above helping out someone in need, never looking down on his people… He filled everyone he was around with a light so warm and so happy that she knew she would fight to the death to keep that light from being snuffed out. 

 

He was much more to her than just her charge. He was her friend, her teammate, and, most importantly, the man she was completely in love with. 

 

And he said he would marry her, without hesitation, if things were different.  _ If  _ things were different. 

 

Meaning, no matter how much he wanted to, they both knew they had duties to honor that wouldn’t allow for it. 

 

If this was destiny, then it had a cruel sense of humor. 

 

~

 

Amestris. The beginning of the change of the rest of their lives. 

 

With his new realization that he was much smaller than he thought, Ling didn’t have as much of a problem letting himself wander in this new world a little. By the time the three of them reached Rush Valley, his curiosity about his surroundings had gotten the better of him, and in just a quick second, he was separated from his friends and completely on his own. 

 

Little did he know, collapsing from lack of food in an alley and running across two young men named Elric would change everything forever. 

 

~

She knew this was what she had signed on for. This was the part of the job she didn’t like to think about. She was amazed Ling could still fend off attackers from two sides with her hoisted up over his shoulder, but knew this wouldn’t be able to go on for much longer. The blood dripping down her limp arm told her she was in no shape to keep going, either. This was only going to get one of them killed. And if one of them had to lay down their life, it was going to be her. 

 

“Leave me here,” she pleaded, shutting her eyes against the flow of tears threatening to spill. “It’s no use, and I’m just slowing you down. Find the philosopher’s stone. Become emperor for the sake of our clan.” 

 

“No! I won’t leave you!” Ling had said firmly. 

 

“I can’t fight.” 

 

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving you here to die.” 

 

She stopped for a second, her body going white hot at the connotations for what he said. He wasn’t leaving her here, even if she couldn’t protect him. He still wanted her around, even despite her injuries. “My… My lord…” 

 

Lan Fan knew what she had to do.  Closing her eyes, she raised the blade to her arm and severed the limb. Ling released her, setting her on the ground while he dressed her wound, and she helped set a trap for the Fuhrer King that would buy them some much needed time. 

 

“Come on,” he said quietly, helping her back to her feet and uncovering the manhole by their feet. He went first, acting as a support for her as she made her way down into the damp, dark hiding spot. Ling settled her against the wall, and heard the mass of muscle that was Gluttony coming fast their way. “Listen to me,” he said quickly, gently tilting her chin up to face him. “I  _ will  _ come back for you. I promise I won’t leave you to die down here, Lan Fan. Just hold on for a little while longer, okay? I’ll be back with help.” 

 

He could hear Gluttony coming for them, and, with a split second to think, he pressed a gentle kiss for her forehead before taking off in the opposite direction to lead the homunculus away from his friend. 

 

~ 

It was getting dark. She could tell by the holes in the cover of the manhole. She hadn’t heard anything for a long time except the rushing water beside her, and the occasional car from up above. Her arm hurt. She could still feel it bleeding, and the bandage Ling had hastily tied around it felt soaked with her blood. Lan Fan leaned her head back against the wall, and closed her eyes. 

 

How could she let him leave her like this? She should have insisted on going with him, or  _ something  _ instead of just waiting here. She felt useless, waiting like this. 

 

She heard the scrape of the manhole cover moving across cement again, and looked up, blinking against the light, to see Ling, grinning down at her. “I told you I’d come back!” he exclaimed, popping down into the hole beside her. “Now, let’s get you out of here and to a doctor.” 

 

With Ling behind her, and a strange, blonde woman waiting at the top, they helped her out, and into the waiting car. Ling sat beside her on the seat, his arm around her protectively, and Lan Fan shut her eyes for just a moment. Just so she could remember this… 

 

~

 

Waiting. Waiting. More waiting. Ling was growing increasingly agitated and nervous with each passing moment. How was she? Was everything going okay in there? Was she going to make out of this alive? The Elrics both apologized for what happened to her, but he assured them that it wasn’t their fault. Both of them knew what they were doing, they knew the risks, but still… 

 

Lan Fan had lost an arm because of him. 

 

That was his fault. 

 

Finally, after what felt like a decade, the doctor the Elrics had brought along came out to greet them. “She’s fine, just resting.” 

 

Ling shut his eyes, his heart feeling lighter than air at the news. He was about to follow the boys inside when the Amestrian Colonel, Mustang, pulled him aside along with the doctor who saved his friend’s life, to discuss the slight issue of the Fuhrer being a homunculus. 

 

Though, something happened. Something none of them expected. The wall exploded, and Gluttony, who had been tied up in the adjacent room, escaped into the forest surrounding the house. Ed, Al, and Roy went to chase him down, and Ling stood there for a second, trying to decide what to do. His eyes landed on Mustang’s car, and he knew what he needed to do. Ling hurried back inside, telling the doctor to get to the vehicle, and went to collect his friend. 

 

“Lan,” he started, gently shaking her shoulder. “It’s time to go. We’ve got problems.” 

 

Immediately, she was alert and trying to sit up, which Ling helped her with. “We’re getting you out of here. It’s not safe.” 

 

She didn’t say much until they got outside, just about the time the three were leading Gluttony back out of the trees. Ling swore under his breath, hurried his bodyguard to the car, and shut the door. 

 

“My lord?” She asked, looking completely confused. “Where’re you going?”

 

Ling didn’t say anything, just shot her a regretful look and hurried after Mustang and the Elrics. 

 

~ 

 

This wasn’t supposed to be what it was like, achieving immortality. He’d imagined this so many times over in his head, the power, the confidence in knowing nothing could touch him no matter what, but this was nothing like that. 

 

Thousands of screaming souls. Him, trapped in his own body, surrounded by tortured innocents unable to rest. This wasn’t right. 

 

He could see everything that was happening to his body, hear the things that were happening, but there was nothing he could do to stop any of it except scream and hope the one they called Greed would take some pity on him. 

 

Of course, he didn’t. 

  
  


No amount of screaming, no amount of pleading, no amount of  _ anything  _ was enough to get the creature inside of him to relinquish control. This wasn’t his body anymore. He was just along for the ride. 

 

The Yao clan was doomed. 

 

~ 

 

He couldn’t believe his eyes. Out of the darkness, out of the night, she came in like a breath of wind, right down onto Gluttony’s head. Ling watched from the sidelines, pride swelling in his chest for the strongest person he knew, continuing to fight despite everything that had happened to her. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, to hold her, to tell her how happy he was to see her again, but there wasn’t anything he could do, not when they had bigger things to worry about. 

 

“She’s a looker, that one,” Greed commented, “good fighter, too. You sure know how to pick ‘em, you little piss-ant, I’ll give ya that.” 

 

“Shut up,” Ling snapped back, rushing over to help out his friends. 

 

“I’m just givin’ you a compliment. You should learn to take those.” 

 

~ 

 

No, no, no… This couldn’t be happening. Not to him, not to Fu. Not when they were so close to finishing this. If it wasn’t for the help of Greed holding him up, Ling would have sunk to his knees. All the breath was gone from his lungs as the old man crumpled to the ground. Not like this. No, there had to be something he could do. 

  
  


Something inside him willed him to keep moving. Just because one was out, didn’t mean they all were. He still had a hand to play in this battle. He had to keep moving. If not for himself, for Fu. Maybe there was a chance still… 

 

The ground shook underneath them all, and he stopped in his tracks, wondering what the hell had just happened. He felt the shove come out of left field, the wind knocked from his lungs, as he fell over the side. His hand gripped at the wall, barely holding on with both his own weight and Bradley’s. Ling could feel them slipping, was bracing himself for the impact, when they were caught. 

 

He looked up, his heart hammering in his chest when he saw her. Lan Fan really was one hell of a woman. “Climb up,” she called down to them. 

 

“Your arm ain’t gonna hold forever, princess. Just let us go. At least maybe we’ll take him to hell with us!” 

 

“I won’t let go.” She replied, “I can’t.” 

 

Her arm was slipping. Ling could see the dark red spots on her sleeve. He wanted to tell her that it was okay, that things would be fine, but he couldn’t. All he knew was, he wasn’t having her go down with him. 

 

“Just do it!” 

 

“No!” 

 

Tears. Her tears. Splashing down on his face. She couldn’t afford to lose anyone else, not now, not after she’d already lost so much. He wanted to be there with her, to promise it was okay, to reach out for her, but all he could do was watch, and pray. 

 

Her arm slipped again, and they could all see the wires start to separate under the weight of two fully grown men, and panic started to fill him. He could survive the fall, thanks to Greed, but there was no way Lan Fan could. It was just too far. 

 

A gunshot rang out through the silence, and suddenly, he felt much lighter. Greed turned their head and Ling saw Bradley tumbling down towards the water. Lan Fan was pulling at his arm, hoisting him up back over the wall, and he was about to thank her when his eyes fell on the old man. 

 

He wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t moving at all. No amount of help in the world could save him now. 

 

He’d let her down. He’d let himself down. He’d gotten what he wanted, but was it worth the cost? “I finally gained immortality… and i can’t even save one of my own subjects?!” He shouted. 

 

Useless. This whole thing was useless. What good was immortality if it couldn’t be used to help others? What good was  _ he  _ if he couldn’t? 

 

~ 

 

Empty. That’s how it felt. With just him inside of himself now, he felt… empty. Ling stared out ahead of him, eyes unfocused, as he tried to process the eight months. 

 

So much had happened, so much had changed, so many had been lost… how could he ever make it up to his people? More importantly, how could he make it up to Lan Fan? His eyes fell on her, sitting a little ways away, curled into a tight ball and trying not to cry. His heart broke for the girl he loved. The girl who he would have given anything to protect. 

 

“Lan?” he called softly, “I’m sorry. About all of this, I’m so sorry.” 

 

She closed her eyes, and unless it was a trick of the light, he could have sworn he saw a tear fall. “We knew what we were doing when we came with you, my lord. We knew the risks.” 

 

“It doesn’t make it right.” 

 

“It doesn’t make it wrong, either.” 

 

She lifted her chin, her brown eyes staring directly at him, and got to her feet. “I would do all of it again, if it meant we got to where we are right now.  Your future is secure. You’re the next emperor of Xing. We did what we set out to do, my lord.” 

 

_ It didn’t have to happen like this.  _ Ling thought. “I know.” 

 

“Are you ready to go back?” 

 

Ling looked around at the people behind them. The people who he’d grown to care for. Edward, Alphonse, Riza, Roy, Falman… all of their new friends, all of these people who had touched his life in one way or another… no, part of him wanted to stay here. To live the rest of his life as Ling Yao, the friend of the FullMetal Alchemist. To be at peace, surrounded by those who loved him… 

 

But he also knew, deep down, that his people were waiting on his return. He had a job to do back home. “I am.” he told her. 

 

“Then let’s go.” 

 

~ 

 

Nobody said much through the first leg of the journey back. Mei was still sore about her clan being beaten out, and having to leave Alphonse behind, but she was relieved that her people - and the others as well - would be spared. 

 

Lan Fan was still a bit in shock over what had happened to her grandfather, and needed her time to grieve for him in her own ways. Ling only wished there was something he could do to help her. 

 

His own mind whirled with worries, wonders, and possibilities for the future. His heart was heavy with the losses he’d suffered in Amestris, the friends he’d left behind, but that couldn’t stop him right now. The living would be honored for their bravery and the dead would never be forgotten. Not as long as he could help it.    
  


“My lord?” 

 

He had almost fallen asleep until he heard Lan Fan’s voice. “Yeah?” 

 

“Do you know what your first act as emperor will be yet?” 

 

He thought about it for a second or two, before a grin spread across his face, and he turned to look at her. “I guess, the first thing I’ll do is call a truce with the eleven other clans. But after that, I’m lifting the rule that says an emperor can’t marry his bodyguard, if he so chooses.” 

 

A blush colored Lan Fan’s face, and she turned her eyes away from him. “That sounds like a good idea.” 

 

Ling returned the look. 

 

So much had changed since they set out for Amestris a little over a year prior. Some good, a lot of it bad, but none of it taken for granted. They were different people now. Stronger, wiser, and ready to take on whatever came next for them. 

 

It might have been the end of one journey, but it was just the beginning of the rest of their lives. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm baaaaack! I hope you're all enjoying LingFan week so far!


End file.
